Terrorized By Love [ON HOLD]

Chapter 39: Disguised Intimacy

Mahima was inside her room, changing the bedsheets, when her son Ishaan ran inside and grabbed her hand. She stopped what she was doing and looked her eleven year old in the eye.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Ma there's a man downstairs who is thirsty," Ishaan said. "I gave him water and asked him to sit. He doesn't look like he's from here."

Mahima looked at her son suspiciously and finished removing the old bedsheet from the bed.

"Who is he?" Mahima asked.

"I'm not sure. He seems nice," Ishaan said.

"Okay, go down and offer him some parathas to eat. I'll come down," Mahima offered.

Ishaan nodded and ran down the stairs to the man who was still drinking a glass of water while sitting by the kitchen table. The eleven year old went up to the counter and took out some parathas from the container before putting them in a plate and heating them up.

He brought the plate to the older man and held it out for him to take, both of his hands stretched. Aditya took the plate from the boy and placed it in front of him.

"Thank you," he said appreciatively.

"My mom made them. I love parathas!" the boy said.

"I love them too," Aditya replied with a smile.

He ripped a piece off the first one and then put it in his mouth. Right away, he was hit with a feeling of nostalgia. He remembered when he was a child. His mom used to make parathas the same way. Mahima used to help his mom, and the two of them would make the most savoury parathas he had until date. It had become his favourite food.

"By the way, my name is Ishaan," the boy introduced. "Who are you?"

Aditya tried to be polite, but he really didn't know how to talk to kids. How much was he supposed to reveal? Could he say that he was hiding from terrorists? Did this boy even know what a terrorist was?

"Ishaan!" a man's voice called, just as he walked into the kitchen.

Aditya looked up and saw Ajay, the target. Ajay had very similar features to him, except his hair was more brown than black. He even had grown a beard and moustache. The photo that Mahendra and the team showed him about his target was of a clean-shaven man. If Aditya didn't have so much experience with disguises, perhaps he wouldn't have been able to catch Ajay.

"Daddy! This is -" Ishaan started, and looked at Aditya for confirmation of who he was. "I don't know... but he's a nice man who was thirsty for water."

If Aditya had it his way, he would shoot Ajay dead right now and then depart... but right now, it was still afternoon and the villagers were out. If he killed Ajay, he would be dead too.

"I'm Dev," Aditya said right away, saying the first name that came to his mind. "Devjeet."

He recalled that he was supposed to be disguised as a Punjabi man, so he changed his name to reflect the same.

"Dev?" Ajay asked, looking suspicious. "Last name?"

"Devjeet Singh Khurana," Aditya said right away.

"I see," Ajay said. "What brings you here?"

Ishaan pulled a chair and sat next to Aditya, while looking up at his father expectantly.

"I've been wandering aimlessly for days seeking water, shelter," Aditya said, telling him the story he had cooked up in his mind. "I was hiding from terrorists. Actually they burnt down my village."